How do you catch surface feeding Crappies?
Many times I have been frustrated by surface feeding crappies.
What is the solution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGi09CoEDAA

Fly rod poppers. Used them when I grew up in California and killed them with small yellow poppers.

When I see that kind of surface activity here in western Washington this time of year the crappie are typically focusing small fry- young of the year panfish, bass, etc.

In those cases a small streamer (1 to 1.5 inches long) or woolybugger fished on a floating line is money. Can accomplish the same presentation with an ultra light spinning outfit and a small casting bubble. Use the same flies on a 3 to 4 foot leader (4# with no weight) behind the bubble. The fish may be spooky so casing beyond the working fish and slowly bring the bubble/fly into the feeding schools with frequent pauses should get bite. Can also do the same thing with light 1/64 ounce jibs on a shorter leader.

If you see that type of activity in the evening along weed lines or the pads the crappie maybe on either the same fry or small insects. If insects a smaller fly is probably the ticket- usually something like a size 12 muddler (fished either on the surface or just below) is all that is needed.

Curt

This is the direction DFW wants fishing to go in WA

I am not sure it is so much that WDFW "wants" that direction but that is the direction the state has chosen through development and political decisions. WDFW is just trying to work with what they have.

WDFW NEEDS to hear more from the anglers. The town halls are a step in the right direction & anglers participating is another.

Long Live The Ditch Pickle!

Naturally reproduce, less sensitive to habitat perturbations, more productive. What's not to like? Spend less to manage.

WDFW is already successfully spending less to manage these exotic fish species. Still, the Department needs increased revenue from taxpayers and license buyers to fund more Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors, and Deputy Assistant Directors to help carve up the nearly non-existent salmon and steelhead runs according to the co-manager's directives. And I suppose we'll need to kick in even more if we expect things like a well functioning agency web site and well maintained public fishing access sites, especially those on closed waters.

Can't argue with that, Salmo. That seems to be the direction.

Take access areas. You want to attract folks to the lakes. Who is going to use the "restrooms" there? If you can't make these developed areas attractive how do you expect to bring in new people?

Montana doesn't spend my non-resident license money to subsidize commercial fisheries. As a result, they have many more and better quality public access sites. And toilets too.

True that Salmo. "Back in the day" license fees, with the exception of steelhead production, all went to the folks who paid the freight. They also seem to recognize that providing quality experiences is an economic benefit.

I did see, though, that on at least one river there is a limit to the number of days and areas that guides can take non-residents. Needed to control effort.